Bharadvaja's Desire and the Birth of Drona
The sage Bharadvaja, a lifelong celibate, goes to bathe in the Ganga and sees the celestial dancer Ghritachi nude. Overcome by a sudden, overwhelming desire, his semen falls. He collects it in a wooden cup.
At the source of the Ganga lived the sage Bharadvaja, a man of great austerities, rigid vows, and profound wisdom. One day, he went to the river for his bath. The apsara (celestial dancer) Ghritachi had arrived before him and was already there, having finished her own bath.
A wind arose from the riverbank. It lifted and removed Ghritachi’s clothing, leaving her nude.
Bharadvaja saw her. He had been a brahmachari (celibate) since boyhood, his energy and focus channeled entirely into his austerities. The sight afflicted him with a desire he had never before experienced. As soon as his mind felt it, his semen dropped.
The sage did not let it fall into the river. He collected it in a wooden cup.
From that semen, placed in that vessel, a son was born. The boy grew to become the learned Drona, master of all the Vedas and the Vedangas (the auxiliary sciences of the Vedas).